working hard or making smart transactions

What can really make you rich is not your technical skills. It is the beneficial transactions you make. I have personally experienced this. I worked hard to pass exams while working as an actuarial assistant full time and made $40,000 a year. And then I made a bad transaction buying a small condo that I have to sell at a $40,000 loss (26.7%) when I relocate for a new job in the midst of a tough market. (Full disclosure: the condo is still not sold.) All of my hard work goes to the seller who sold it to me and the buyer who buy it from me. I have no ground to complain about any grievance. I deserve it by being stupid and not market savvy with real estate. Market is always efficient. The problem is when you are not savvy, the information asymmetry problem is working against you. You won't call it fair when you suffer such a loss. But I have only myself to blame. This is the miracle of market economy and capitalism. I learned it the hard way. Hope this personal painful story help you to avoid the same mistake I made. But you probably are much smarter than I was. So let's just see this as my personal follies, and laugh it away.